Wine Fictions

Sideways has set a before and after of my relationship with wine.  It was around 2008 when I have first seen it and I still clearly remember what I have done afterwards: went to buy wine and along with two friends we have dedicated ourselves to cooking and drinking in some kind of inner euphoria that has lasted for quite some hours. From all the scenes which later became rather iconic, there is one which often invades my thoughts: the end of the discussion between both friends when Jack says to Paul that he will never find the perfect occasion to drink the perfect wines he has been collecting. As a consequence Paul ends up drinking a pretty expensive wine at some fast food restaurant. From that moment on I have made an subconscious decision to open wines that I have been reserving for special events in absolutely normal days.  And that is what I have done with this Cuvée Monsignori from Santorini. On an absolutely normal Tuesday I have invited two good friends over for dinner...

 When I was 16 I have experienced my first literary obsession.  During a summer job on an archeological site in Santarém, an archeology student has recommended me Franz Kafka . As soon as I have started reading the first pages of the Metamorphosis , it was clear for me that I needed to read all the other works as the doors to a completely new world  have just been opened and I felt my mind blowing with images and ideas that never occurred to me before.  With José Saramago it happened exactly the same and till his death in 2010 whatever new book came to market, I would immediately run and buy it, only feeling truly at peace when finishing it. His death has hit me as if the one of someone close.   In a much smoother way, the same has happened with Safran Foer , Sasa Stanisic , Valter Hugo Mae , V ila-Matas and Irvine Welsh among others. But the question that I would like to make now is whether it is possible to feel the same about a certain wine. During my...

I have to confess that my knowledge about Greek wines is rather residual, being mainly set in the offer available at most Greek restaurants around and some vague memories from a past journey to Greece. And my experiences couldn´t be more extreme: I was often offered overpriced half-dry wines (even after having asked for dry ones) from a rather dubious and never revealed origin, and more recently quite some pleasant surprises from a small family Taverna which have a wonderful offer, and advice, on their selection of wines. It was mainly because of this that I have decided to bring home this Agathon Mount Athos 2014. Having achieved a gold medal at the Bio Wine Prizes, it is made of equal amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and the autochtonous Limnio, which is a grape with which I had  my first contact. In the mouth there is a pleasant taste of ripe berries with a very interesting melange of wooden notes. Still, it is quite a fresh and lively wine with an agreeable finish, ideal ...